Padman effect: Sabarmati jail to make sanitary napkins

AHMEDABAD: Likely inspired by the Akshay Kumar-starrer Padman, Sabarmati Central Jail has decided to set up a unit in its women's prison to manufacture sanitary napkins. By establishing a production unit for sanitary pads, the jail administration aims at providing employment to women convicts.

The jail authority has roped in two NGOs for the project Mahatma Gandhi-founded publication house Navajivan and city-based Karma Foundation.

The NGOs inked a pact with the jail administration on Monday. According to the agreement, Navajivan and Karma Foundation will set up a manufacturing unit, provide raw material to prisoners and wages too. It will be the responsibility of the NGOs to take out the final product from the prison for sale.

The Sabarmati jail administration had sent a proposal to its higher authorities to engage NGOs for production of sanitary napkins in the prison, so that more than a hundred women convicts, who are without work, can be engaged and can earn wages. The authorities have granted permission to set up the unit, jail superintendent V H Dindor, stated in a press release.

For a couple of years, Navajivan has engaged in various activities within the jail premises including propagation of Gandhian ideology. It approached Karma Foundation, informing them of the opportunity to provide work for women convicts and proposed the project, which it agreed to for the welfare of woemn prisoners and in the larger public interest. The foundationï¿½s managing trustee, Priyanshi Patel, said that they chose to work with women prisoners as part of their Right to Cleanliness programme, which they began last year.

"Many things are manufactured inside prisons, but there is no work for women prisoners. Production of sanitary napkins could be work in which these women could be engaged in. We will train the prisoners for this and production will start by March 1. The cost of setting up the unit will be about Rs 4 lakh," Patel said.